Kung Fu Croc
by Damian Gentleheart
Summary: A continuation of Kung Fu Panda. Did you notice how there were no reptiles except for Viper and Oogway? Well, this is the story about where they all went and one who was destined for greatness.
1. Chapter 1

Kung Fu Croc

Kung Fu Croc

Long Jian ran from everything he had known; his family, his pain, and his memories.

He ran because he had been banished from his homelands. By his own father.

Long had been part of the Jian crocodile family. They had been separated along with most of the other reptilian races because of their unwillingness to make peace with the mammals. The only one's allowed to stay were the snakes.

Long had been 12 years old at the time, and one of his best friends, Maymay the viper. After being banished, Saulong Jian- Long's father- had started to hate the mammals and the snakes. He began to train his sons and the sons of the others. They were trained for fighting and for anger.

Long had never understood any of it, so he never did well. It wasn't as if he didn't try; he and Maymay had always used to play fight and do other such things- they were good then. But now he was clumsy; if he attempted a simple side kick, he would fall on his tail. Of course, when he practiced by himself, he did as well as if he was with Maymay.

His main failing, however, was his lack of aggression towards people. Whenever he was asked about whom he hated, he had no answer. He didn't feel any anger towards anyone, even the mammals. He felt that they actually deserved to be banished because of their anti-peace talk.

After five years, Saulong was tired of Long's lack of skill and anger. When he caught Long in a garden, trimming a bonsai tree, he lost it. He chased after Long with a spiked mace; when they reached the edge of the family lands, Saulong stopped and waved his mace, promising to use it on Long if he ever saw him again.

Long ran and ran, stumbling, but not stopping for anything. Tears pricked his eyes, but he pushed them back. Because of this, he didn't see the large panda standing in front of him until he bounced off his stomach.

He flew backwards, hitting his head on a rock. As his eyes clouded over, he saw the face of the panda loom over his own.

Great, a mammal… he thought before fainting.


	2. Chapter 2

Kung Fu Croc 2

Long woke up on a pallet behind bamboo bars.

He began to cry slightly, remembering his current situation; the pain of separation and banishment. When he heard the door slide open, he stopped crying and pretended to be asleep. He closed and wiped his eyes, and slowed his breathing. He heard the clicking of clawed feet headed towards his cell and stop. "Don't bother pretending to be asleep. I know you're awake. You don't have the skill to trick me." Long opened his eyes to see Crane, one of the Freaky Five standing there.

He sat up quickly; he had heard about the Five after he had left. "Y- you're one of the Freaky Five! You're Crane!"

Crane took a step back as he sat up, slightly surprised. Then he stepped forward again and a frown creased his face. "What does a scaly know?" he said scornfully, using the insulting term for reptiles. "Besides, it's more like the six, now that Po came." Crane's face lightened for a second, and a smile pricked his mouth. Then he returned to a scowl. "Anyway, I was sent to make sure you hadn't escaped; can't have you ruining a warrior ceremony. We already had a surprise last year, with Po and the dragon warrior ceremony." Crane rattled the bars and poked the lock with his wingtip. "Good. These should hold you until after the Shadow Warrior ceremony." Crane turned and stalked out, sliding the door closed behind him.

A few minutes founding Long sitting with his back against the bars, staring up. The six? Shadow warrior? What was he talking about? Long wanted to find out, but he would have to get outside, first. He looked around, trying to see where the key was or if there was anything he could use against the lock. All he saw was a peach tree outside of the window set high in the wall.

From the blossoming peach tree, a single petal fell off the tree and floated through the window. It floated down and slid across the lock, slipping its tip inside.

Long jumped when he heard a click, standing quickly and getting into a sloppy fighters stance. The lock clanked to the ground and the bars swung open. "What the…?" Was all Long said. He shook his head. "Whatever. I am SO out of here!" Long announced, mostly to himself.

He heard cheering and changing through the window. "Where there's noise, there's people, and where there's people, there is action." Deciding to forgo the door, Long walked up to the window. He started climbing, but lost his grip and fell on his back. "Ow…" He flipped himself up and glared at the wall. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined himself with Maymay. They had done a lot of climbing, so he was good. He opened his eyes and jumped towards the wall.

As he flew, time seemed to slow for him as his eyes looked over the walls, cataloging all of the bumps and dents in the wall. He then reorganized them into an order he could use to climb. When he hit the wall, he stuck like a fly and climbed quickly, using the handholds he had thought of.

Reaching the window, he crouched on the window sill, holding onto the wall and plotting his way across the roofs towards the noise. He jumped towards the first roof as he had the wall, landing without as much as a sound. After jumping from roof to roof, he paused on one and looked over the edge of the roof. He saw Mantis, one of the five; there were bowmen on some of the rooftops, shooting at him. Mantis jumped and dodged, blocking and breaking the arrows as they came at him. Wow… Long thought. He wished he was that good, but knew that he would never be that good in public. He was too clumsy.

Once Mantis was finished and the clapping died down, the five gathered in front of the plateau of the stairs. Monkey, the speed master; Tigress, the strength master; Mantis of Intricacy; Viper of silence; and Crane of Gentility. Long thought with disgust. Gentility my tail…

Then a panda, the same one that Long had crashed into, walked down the stairs and joined the five, bowing to Master Shifu. Ah. So that's the 'six' Crane was talking about. Long saw a dragon stitched into his robe. "The- the Dragon warrior! The one my father named me for." He remembered how his name- Long- meant dragon.

Master Shifu stepped up in front of the six on the plateau. He bowed, placing his staff on the ground in front of him. As he stood, he began speaking to the six and the crowd. As close as he was, Long couldn't hear him. He decided to creep into a tree above the six to listen.

As he sat in a tree above Master Shifu, he heard what was being said. "…the Shadow Warrior. Master Ooguay came to me in a dream and told me of a need for another warrior to protect us in troubling times."

Long smiled when the old turtle was mentioned. Master Ooguay! The original Kung Fu master! Then his face fell as he recognized what the other words meant. A dream? Is Master Ooguay… dead? He gave an involuntary shiver; a leaf detached from the tree he was sitting in and floated down to land in front of Monkey.

Monkey looked up and saw Long. Before Long could move, Monkey jumped up into the tree and lashed out. Long barely managed to dodge, but it set him off balance. He fell from the tree and landed right in front of Master Shifu. But Shifu, instead of attacking like his students were getting ready to, simply stared at Long. After a few minutes, he opened his mouth.

"You are the one."


	3. Chapter 3

Kung Fu Croc 3

Kung Fu Croc 3

Long stared at Shifu confusedly, blinking rapidly.

All of the six stared at Shifu as well. Crane was the first to react. "What? Master, you can't seriously mean…" Shifu held up his hand.

"Bring him up." He turned and began to walk up the stairs.

The six circled Long as he stood up. "Come on. Let's go." Crane said. They began walking up the stairs towards the temple.

As Long was marched up the stairs, all he could think was Oh no, back to the jail. And I'll probably be guarded by one of these 6… He looked around. I hope that, if I am, it's not Crane.

But instead of heading towards the jail, Shifu led them to the Dragon Temple. Long looked around in wonder. "Wow…" he whispered. "The Dragon Temple! The Sword of Heroes… But what happened to the Vase?" He didn't notice the panda blush and look away.

Shifu stopped before a small pond and turned around. He looked at all seven faces before him for a second before speaking. "My students, I would like you to meet the Shadow Warrior." He gestured towards Long. Crane, Tigress, Mantis, Monkey, Viper, and Po all looked back and forth between Long and Shifu.

"WHAT?!" they said in unison. Crane stepped forward. "Master, you can't be serious! He's a crocodile!" Long sat there confused, but slightly irritated with Crane for his specism. The other five joined in, creating a huge din.

Master Shifu held up a hand, stemming the flow of words. "Oogway was short, but clear. He appeared to me in a dream, giving me a message. 'A year after the leopard, another warrior will arise. It shall be the Shadow Warrior, clothed in the armor of an old enemy and falling among you as the Dragon did.'" Shifu looked at Viper. "When he said 'the armor of an old enemy', I thought he meant you at one point. My apologies." Viper just bowed in return.

Shifu shook his head as Crane began to protest again. "No, Crane, there is no more room for discussion tonight. I suggest that we all get some sleep and continue tomorrow. We have another warrior to train."

Shifu turned away as a bird waddled up to the gathered animals, holding a lantern. "If you would follow me, please?" The 6 turned and immediately followed him, leaving Long to shake himself and try to follow.

By the time Long got outside, they were already halfway up the stairs. "Wait! Oh, scales." They were too far to hear him. "I guess I'll just have to make my way up there myself." He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He listened to the faint breeze as it curled over the steps and the boulders on either side.

He suddenly jumped, landing on one of the rocks. Without missing a beat, he leaped again, grabbing hold of a branch and using it to sling himself even farther. He bounced from boulder to boulder, not bothering with the actual stairs. When he reached the top, he balanced there on one foot for a second before opening his eyes. "There we go." He whispered to himself.

He went inside the sleeping quarters. He padded quietly down the hall, listening at doors. "Viper… Mantis… Monkey… Crane… Tigress… Panda… ah, here we are." He said when he found an empty room. When he went in, though, he found a note saying 'Get out while you still can.' He frowned.

But who would… He thought to himself before rolling his eyes. "Crane." He said angrily.

He would have tried to lie down and sleep, except that the few times he DID get angry for some reason, he couldn't sleep. So he decided to go out and find a way to work off his anger. Leaving the sleeping quarters as silently as a shadow, he began to wander. He walked through buildings, looking around and studying his new surroundings. "If I'm going to live here, I might as well know where to go." Long didn't notice the form that followed him, twisting along the ground.

Finally, he found himself in the temple training court. Long looked around, taking in the twisting wood with the swinging spikes, the spiked rings, the wooden punching dummies, the bowl, and the flame shooters. "Cool. And to think, I am now allowed to use all of these." He shivered in excitement which was dampened when he remembered how badly he fought when watched.  
"But no one is here now!" He looked around once more, trying to decide which was quietest when he saw the punching dummy. "Perfect." Long said. He walked up to it and punched it a few times, testing its recoil. As it flew back at him, he truly began to strike.

He gave it a solid punch, watching in seemingly slow motion as his punch sent the dummy down, then back up. He spun it around, using its own momentum to power his kick which sent it flying into the wall behind him. It bounced back; it would have hit him except that he ducked and gave it another kick, sending it straight into the air. Using only his legs, he kept it in the air for a few seconds before catching it using his legs and tail.

"Hup!" Long said, kicking the dummy upwards once more. He began spinning on his hands like a top. As the dummy came back down, he struck it with his tail, then his foot as it came back. He kept at it for a few minutes, not stopping or dropping the dummy once.

"You fight like my friend." Long heard Viper's voice say. He stumbled and fell over, barely missing getting brained by the dummy as it hit the ground and bounced off. Viper slithered from the shadows, coiling up next to him. "A lot like my friend. He never fought or even practiced well when someone was watching."

Long picked himself up and sat cross-legged, his tail in his lap. "Don't mind Crane." Viper said. "He has had some bad experiences with crocodiles in his past. It took him weeks before he would even talk to me, much less be friendly." Long chuckled, and Viper looked over at him. "So. What's a crocodile doing inside city limits? Weren't you banished years ago?" Long's face fell; of course they would want to know.

"I was exiled." Long said. He didn't say anymore; it was still a sore subject. He stroked his tail in silence for a few minutes.

"Oh." Said Viper. "Well, you would have probably gotten along with my friend. Maybe you even knew him; his name was Long"  
Long sat up straight, his tail slipping out of his lap. No. It can't be… "Ling?" Long said. It was Vipers turn to straighten up.  
"How do you know…" Long smiled.

"It's me! Long!" He said, spreading out his arms. When Viper tackled him into a hug, he wasn't surprised in the least.  
"Long! Thank the heavens! I had always hoped we would see each other again, and here we are!" She squeezed long in a hug and Long hugged back as best as he could.

The two long lost friends had finally been reunited.


	4. Chapter 4

Long and Viper talked long into the night.

As the two spoke, two figures watched them. One was big and tall, the other was short and small. Shifu twitched his ears and chuckled. "And so it begins." He said, mostly to himself.

The other figure stood, his muscles bulging under his spotted fur. "So he's the one you want me to teach? He's a little… young and questionable, don't you think?"

Shifu looked up at him, smiling. "People used to say the same of you, but in the end you turned out alright. Not only that, but you're the best one to train him; you kow what it's like being the outsider, and you are the only one young enough to teach him… that. I know it, but I'm a little too old and slow to teach him." He rubbed his leg where his previous student, Tai Lung had injured him a few years ago.

The yellow eyes closed as the feline's head nodded. "I concede to your point. I'll teach him, but not when the others are around. As so far, you and Po are the only two who know I'm around, and I'd like to keep it that way for a while." Shifu turned away from Long and Viper, patting the purple pants of the cat.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, Tai Lung. I taught you, after all." He said as he walked away. Tai Lung, the once-evil student of Shifu, nodded, swishing his tail as he watched Long.

"So you're to be my pupil, young crocodile. Since the five don't know I'm here, I'll have to train you some other time." He sat down, still watching Long, but thikning tabout his own past. He felt bad about what he had done in years past. "Perhaps I can make it up with this crocdile."

He looked skyward, remembering the old turtle Oogway. "Guide my mind and my paw, Oogway, as you did Shifu's."

A star twinkled, and Tai Lung knew he would teach well.

Long smiled widely; he was glad to find he had a friend among this group. "So, if I'm going to be hanging around, who should I get to know?"

Viper, who had coiled up with her head towards Long, opended one eye. "Hmm? Oh, all of them, at some point." When she saw Long's mouth drop open, she sighed and opened her other eye. "I don't mean all at once. Start with Po; he's the newest person here, excluding you." She lifted her head, looking back towards the sleeping quarters. "Then maybe Mantis, Tigress, and Monkey. Save Crane for last, because he'll be the one least likely to accept you." She nudged him with her tail. "Oh come on. While you work on easing in during the day, you can train with me a little at night."

When Long nodded slowly, she slithered over and gave him another hug, sqeezing him lightly in her coils. "Relax. You'll be fine." She looked up at the night sky and saw a star twinkle. "Since it's so late, we'll start tomorrow, okay?"

Long hugged Viper back. "Thanks, Ling. Or, should I say, Viper." He stood and dusted himself off, then smacked his forhead. "I forgot! The whole reason I was out here is because Crane took my bedroll." Viper sighed and began to slither off.

"Go back to bed. I'll find your bedroll."

Long shrugged and began walking back, taking his time. When he reached his room, he found his bedroll and a note. 'Goodnight, Seahorse. Ling.' The note said, refering to the other meaning to Long's name. "Goodnight, Viper." He whispered as he laid down and fell asleep.

Tomorrow, the crocodile would need his strength.


End file.
